


Protectors

by orphan_account



Series: Magic Keepers [2]
Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Sexy Zone
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 12:50:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2851358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had thought that it was over, but then, the Protectors started disappearing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protectors

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!  
> This follows my One Shot "Magic Keepers", which I posted about a year ago. It won't make much sense if you haven't read the first one, so please read it in proper order. It's a little darker than the first one, but I hope you will like it anyways!  
> Merry Christmas to all of you :)

Fuma’s POV

I barely had time to pull the door to our dressing room closed behind myself before I already had to duck to avoid being hit by what looked like one of Kento’s university books. One look towards the couch told me everything I needed to know: Lately, Kento had started unconsciously using his powers while he was sleeping, resulting in objects flying through the room and other remarkable things to happen in his surroundings. 

Apparently, Kento had napped off a while ago, because no one paid him or the books flying through the room any attention, Marius doing homework and Shori and Sou animatedly discussing some movie. 

I caught another book as it flew into my direction with a sigh, raising my eyebrows at them. 

“I told you to collect the things he sends flying while he is asleep! What if the manager comes in?”

“It’s not like collecting them will help for long” Shori shrugged, leaning back into his chair. “And I am in no mood to run after everything he sets into motion all day. Stop calling me a lazy brat, I can hear you.”

I stuck out my tongue at him and caught another book before crossing the room to where Kento was spread out on the couch, covered with a jacket that looked like Marius’. I leaned down with a smile, allowing myself for a moment to marvel in the sight of his sleeping face, before running gentle fingers over his cheekbone. 

Kento stirred, and I heard the rest of the books crash to the ground violently even before he opened his eyes. He seemed disoriented, and I chuckled fondly as I pressed a quick kiss to his temple. 

“Open your eyes, princess. We have work in about 10 minutes.” 

“Don’t call me princess” Kento murmured, his voice rough from sleep, but he was smiling as he stretched. “Or I will ask Ninomiya-Kun to turn you into one.”

I made a face, pinching his nose as a punishment, and Kento made an uncomfortable sounding noise. 

“Can you please be lovey-dovey somewhere else?!” Shori complained. “This is too many feelings for me, ewww.”

“Oh, talking about feelings, Shori-Kun!” Marius perked up, a wide smile spreading over his face. “I had this dream last night-”

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT!” Shori protested in panic, but was kept from saying anything else when the door opened,revealing Hashimoto Ryosuke and Kawai Fumito. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to hear it?” Kawai grinned at Shori, swiftly integrating himself into the conversation. “It’s a nice story, I heard Marius think about it on the way in. It involves half of Johnny’s West.”

Shori whined, but I was distracted when Hasshi strolled over to Kento and me, looking slightly tensed. 

“Hey” he said quietly, plopping down next to Kento on the couch as he sat up to make place for him. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“Hm?” Kento nodded, looking at him curiously. 

It was only after the whole incident with Katori and Genki had happened almost a year ago that we had learned that there were actually more magic keepers in the agency than we had been aware of: Hasshi was one of them, and the other was Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi, leaving a total of 5 Johnnys with powerful magical abilities, and their almost 20 protectors. 

I had never considered Johnny’s Entertainment a quiet work environment, but ever since these supernatural phenomenons had found their way into my life, it was nothing but a huge chaos. And not only because I feared to be struck to death by one of Kento’s possessions in the middle of sleep. 

“Have you found anything… unusual… happening among your lots?” Hasshi brought out finally, frown deep and looking a little off on his face. 

“No?” Kento blinked, looking up at me for confirmation, but I just shook my head. “Why, what happened?”

“Tottsu is gone” Kawai spoke up from accross the room, apparently having given up on teasing Shori in order to join the conversation. “He has been sending generic emails to call in sick to the management for two days, but he is not home, and no one can reach him. We are starting to worry.”

“You haven’t noticed anything?” I asked with a frown, knowing that his powers were similar to Shori’s, only his mind reading applied only to the people whose mind he _chose_ to read, for which Shori envied him endlessly. 

“No” Kawai sighed, crossing his arms and worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “He seemed normal when we last saw him, and his thoughts were not very suspicious, either.”

“You don’t think there is anyone new around?” Sou asked quietly, looking at the others hesitantly. “You know, a Keeper of the Dark Force, like Katori was one?”

“Nahh” Shori frowned, shaking his head. “Tegoshi-Kun, Kawai-Kun and me are all keeping our ears open, we would have noticed.”

“Plus, Totsuka-Kun is no Keeper” I said slowly. “Why would anyone target him?”

“Yeah, I find that weird, too” Kawai nodded. “Maybe there are other reasons behind it, but we should all be careful. Who knows what-”

Before he could end the sentence, the door to the dressing room burst open again, revealing Genki, Jinguji and Amu, all of them breathless and looking at them with huge eyes.

“Reia is gone!” Genki announced, eyes zooming in on Kento, and all of us fell silent as we stared at them. “He hasn’t come home last night, and no one can reach him!”

“That… can’t be a coincidence” Marius murmured, hand clinging to Sou’s arm, and all of us knew that he was right. 

Reia and Tottsu had similar powers, too. Both of them could feel the emotions of the persons around them, only that while Reia could feel anyone anytime just by being around, Tottsu needed to be able to touch people to feel them. But even if their techniques were different, their powers were effectively the same, and for both of them to disappear at the same time had to mean something.

“I… will call Koyama-Kun and Ohno-Kun” Kento whispered, reaching for his phone, and all of us only nodded in silence, no one speaking.

***

We met up with the whole of Arashi, NEWS, A.B.C-Z (minus Tottsu) and Genki, Jinguji and Amu for dinner. Ohno had reserved a secluded room in a restaurant, and as soon as we stepped in, I felt considerably calmer, which i knew of course was completely down to Aiba’s ability to manipulate people’s moods, keeping everyone pleasant and nice, and maybe it was better that way, with how Genki had looked like bursting into tears all the ride on the back seat of Kento’s car. 

“Okay, are we all present then?” Ninomiya asked with a frown, looking around. “Marius, stop playing with Masuda-Kun and let him turn back into a human being, and Jun, stop becoming invisible and scaring the kids.”

Marius stopped petting the giant Saint Bernard dog, looking caught, and it turned back into a pouting Masuda in the matter of seconds, while Matsumoto Jun turned up right between Sou and Genki, making them yelp. 

“Okay, now once again” Ohno murmured, looking into the round and seeming a little lost. “ _Who_ is missing?”

“Nakamura Reia, Genki-Kun’s protector, and Totsuka Shota, Ryosuke’s protector” Kento explained from next to me. 

“Isn’t Reia-Kun a kid?” Shige frowned, arms crossed. “What would anyone even do with him? He is no Keeper.”

“Yeah, no one has ever tried to attack the protectors” Aiba frowned, and suddenly, I felt as anxious as he looked. “It’s not like we are much use without our Keepers, anyways. Our powers fade if we are not around them for a whole length of time.”

“It doesn’t make sense” Goseki nodded. “But it’s happening, and we need to find out how.”

“Shall I go back in time?” Sakurai offered offhandedly. “Maybe I can follow the two around to find out what happened?”

“That sounds like a plan” Goseki nodded. “I could go and interrogate people. You know, take the shape of whoever is necessary.”

“But who are you supposed to interrogate?” Tegoshi frowned. “None of us have heard anything!”

“Well, just pay better attention from now on” MatsuJun shrugged. “I will ghost through the agency and listen in on people as well. One of us should come across something. Anything.”

“Start with all the Juniors” Ninomiya instructed. “There are too many of them, I don’t trust them. And Kanjani. These guys are always worth an investigation.”

“Until we got any information” Koyama murmured, catching the eyes of Kento, Genki, Hasshi and Ohno. “We should keep our protectors close. Just in case.”

I felt Kento’s fingers entwine with mine at those words, and squeezed his hand in reassurance.

***

“It really doesn’t make sense, though” Kento murmured, cuddling further into my embrace and burying his nose into my shirt, taking a deep breath. “Why Reia-Kun and Totsuka-Kun? Neither of them seems especially dangerous. I would understand if it was Shige-Kun or someone…”

“He would make anyone who tried to kidnap him his personal butler faster than that person could even set foot into the building he is in” Fuma shrugged. “Maybe it’s because those two are more or less harmless. They feel things, but can’t actually _do_ anything.”

“Hmm” Kento hummed, and I ran gentle fingers over his back. “Watch out for yourself, okay. I don’t know what I’d do if you were to be taken away from me.”

“That won’t happen” I smiled, kissing his forehead. “Whoever would try to separate us has to be suicidal.”

Kento snorted, and I pressed another obnoxious kiss into his cheek. 

“Don’t worry too much. Sakurai-Kun is going back in time, and I bet he will have found by tomorrow morning, and then we can bring Totsuka-Kun and Reia-Kun back.”

Kento nodded, hugging me a little tighter, but letting the subject drop.

***

We were awoken roughly the next morning by a phone call from Marius.

“I dreamt of Shori!” he called frantically. “That he’d disappear overnight, and now he doesn’t take my calls! What are we supposed to do?!”

We called Shori’s parents, only to find that Shori had honestly _disappeared_ as if from thin air. He had gone to bed last night, and all his things were still there, shoes, jacket, wallet, bag… Only Shori wasn’t anywhere to be found, and it resulted in our second Magic Keepers meeting in a matter of 12 hours, with more shocking news from both NEWS’ side and A.B.C-Z’s side. 

“Kawai and Tegoshi are gone” Sakurai informed us as soon as we were through the door. “And I traveled back in time last night to follow Nakamura-Kun and Totsuka-Kun, but… I couldn’t find out anything. There was no one taking them. They just _vanished_. From one minute to another.”

“What the hell?!” I demanded. “How can _anyone_ disappear just like that?! There has to be someone doing it!”

“Of course there is someone” MatsuJun agreed darkly. “There is a system behind this. First the protectors that can read emotions, now those that can read minds… Someone very obviously wants to keep something very secret.”

“Someone like you?” Jinguji demanded with a glare, making the other hold in. 

“Excuse me?” MatsuJun raised his eyebrows, and everyone’s eyes focused on Jinguji.

“Doesn’t anyone else think it’s weird?!” Jinguji scoffed. “All groups have lost someone now, only Arashi is still complete!”

“Jin-Chan” Genki whispered, looking scared, but Jinguji shook his head at him.

“We can’t be sure who to trust in here, Genki! For all we know, everyone in here could be a traitor!”

“You are right” Ninomiya admitted, meeting his gaze straight-on. “We have to question anyone. If you have doubts, you don’t need to accept our help. Please feel free to work alone.”

“Maybe we should, then!” Jinguji called, standing up abruptly. “We don’t need any of you! We will bring Reia back by ourselves! Genki, Amu, let’s go!”

The other two Juniors looked lost, and Genki caught Kento’s gaze as if begging for help, but when Jinguji grabbed his wrist, he followed him immediately, Amu trotting after them. 

The room was silent after Jinguji had smashed the door shut, and I felt a heavy weight on my chest that I was pretty sure came from Aiba.

“We are no traitors” he said silently, and I looked up to see him frown unhappily.

“Maybe he is” Shige shrugged. “Maybe we should investigate him. Tegoshi told me about some love triangle going on between Jinguji-Kun, Reia-Kun and Genki-Kun, maybe he just wanted him out of the way?”

“I don’t believe that anyone in this room is a traitor” Kento said loudly. “Including Jinguji. We are all worried, but there is no use in putting the blame onto each other.”

Some of the others nodded in agreement, like Marius and Aiba and Tsukada, but the rest just stared darkly into the room, and the aura in there almost suffocated me. 

***

Disappearances kept happening over the next couple of days, without any clue as to their origins. First, Masuda and Ninomiya disappeared, next MatsuJun and Goseki. The morning Goseki disappeared, Hasshi stood into our dressing room in tears, begging Kento for help because by now, it was only him and Tsukada left from A.B.C-Z, and he blamed himself for not protecting his group. 

Kento ended up taking both me and Hasshi home for the night, Hasshi because he didn’t dare to leave him to himself for too long, me because he wasn’t ready to leave me out of his sight. 

“Whatever this is” Kento whispered to me, when Hasshi had already napped off on the futon, and we were sure that he wouldn’t listen in on our conversation. “It’s dangerous and I am so scared. Scared about what happened to Shori, and everyone else. Scared that tomorrow, I will wake up to find Mari or Sou gone, or _you_.”

“I’m here” I reassured him, hugging him tightly. “I am right at your side. Nobody can take me.”

Kento nodded, snuggling further into my chest and taking deep breaths.

***

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I realized that it was cold and uncomfortable and that Kento was not in my arms. It made me tear my eyes open and blink into the dark room, noting that I was not in Kento’s bed anymore, nor anywhere near his house. 

I was lying on a cold stone floor, and as my eyes slowly got used to the dim light, I could see shadows around me, dark figures crouched on the floor just like me. 

“Good morning, Fuma” A familiar voice said quietly, and it made me perk up, searching for the face that belonged to it, until I spotted him sitting just a feet away from me, leaning against the wall.

“Kawai-Kun?!” I gasped. 

“Don’t ever tell Kento-Kun I said this, but I hoped you would turn up here soon. And not only because it was starting to become boring.”

I scanned the dark shapes around me more closely, slowly being able to make out faces. Tegoshi, almost completely draped over Masuda’s lap, unmoving but eyes wide opened, staring at me tiredly. Reia and Shori on each side of Amu, who was still lying on the floor, fast asleep. MatsuJun and Ninomiya across from them, and next to Kawai, I could spot Tottsu and Goseki. 

“What is this?” I murmured, looking up at Kawai in confusion. “Where are we?”

“This is where all the protectors were brought to” Kawai shrugged, nodding to the other side of the room, where I found a thick iron door, probably locked. “They are keeping us here. The room is sealed magically, to make sure we can’t escape.”

“Who is keeping us?” I demanded. Slowly, I realized that by now, Kento had probably woken up to find me gone. Everything tightened inside of me at the horror he must be experiencing right now. 

“SMAP” Ninomiya spat darkly, glaring into space. “Well, and _him_.”

I frowned, looking at the others questioningly, but only Reia was as helpful to point into a dark corner of the room, where I was shocked to find another dark shape lying on the ground, unmoving, still. Carefully, I crawled a little closer over the floor, until I was finally near enough to make out his face.

“Yuma” I whispered. “What is he-”

“He is a Magic Keeper, too” Masuda murmured. “Only none of us knew. He didn’t even know himself, it seems.”

“So you want to tell me _Yuma_ has been doing this?!” I whispered, utterly shocked. “Come on, that can’t-”

“It’s not his fault” Tottsu said quietly. “He is being possessed. Inagaki Goro can control people’s minds, not unlike Shige-Kun, and he is making him do things. Making him kidnap us.”

“It should have been obvious to us” Tegoshi said darkly. “Until now, we always kind of assumed that the rest of SMAP had never developed any abilities as protectors of Katori, because we could never hear any suspicious thoughts, and even if they ever had, that they would have disappeared along with Katori. But he probably just altered our memories to make us think so, or Kusanagi shielded his group from other protector’s powers, the same way he is caging us in here now through his magic.”

“But… wait a second” I stuttered, breathless. “I thought the powers of protectors could only be used when the Keeper was around?! So how-”

Before any of them could answer, though, heavy noises of the door being unlocked cut through the room. I quickly backed off against the wall next to Yuma, staring at the door as it swung open. 

First I only heard the footsteps, the intruder being shielded from my sight through the door, but then, Katori Shingo stepped into the middle of the room, smiling brightly as he looked into the round, making me gasp.

It attracted Katori’s attention, and he turned to look at me, his smile widening. 

“Kikuchi-Kun” he said happily. “Long time no see. I am sorry I didn’t invite you sooner. I was looking forward to meeting up with you.”

“ _How_?!” I breathed, completely shocked at seeing him alive, and Katori chuckled at my question.

“My dear boy” he sighed. “Did you really think I would deal with kids like you in my _real_ form? I am sorry, but I have been in this world much longer than you have. I don’t make amateur mistakes, not when I have my own ways to handle things.”

When I only continued staring at him in confusion, he approached me, hovering down a little to be able to look into my eyes. 

“You know, Kimura-Kun can transform people into whoever I need them to be, even if I need them to look like myself. Goro-Chan, he can control them for me, make them do whatever I tell them to. And Nakai-Kun, he can absorb every power of every protector we come across, and give them either to me, or to the people we use for our purposes. There is really no way I would do all the dirty work myself. I can just send other Magic Keepers to do that for me, those who are not strong enough to fight me.”

“So… that one we fought that day…” Fuma whispered.

“He was meaningless” Katori shrugged. “A Keeper that had barely learned to use his power. It’s not like anyone will miss him.”

I felt sick to the bone, and Katori only looked away from me when new footsteps appeared, and Nakai entered the room. 

“Sorry, I am late” he sighed. 

“It’s okay” Katori shrugged, straightening himself up again. “You can start with Kikuchi-Kun here, I want his power.”

I pressed myself further into the wall when Nakai approached me, but there was nowhere to flee, and even when I pulled away my arm after he had touched it, I could feel the heat of his touch making my skin burn, and knew it was too late. 

“Feels good” Nakai smiled, moving his fingers as if to test how the newfound magic felt inside his grasp, before laying his hand on Katori’s elbow. 

I was not surprised to see the same shield that allowed me to protect Kento appear around them, making Katori smirk. 

“Very well” he nodded, and Nakai let go, making the shield disappear. “Now Haniuda-Kun, he can teleport. That is useful, too.”

Reia immediately moved to cover the still unconscious Amu on the floor, glaring up at Nakai, but Katori only rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist. With a yelp, Reia was flying across the room and hitting the wall next to Totsuka, who quickly moved to his side, whispering his name and asking if he was okay. 

Amu did not even wake as Nakai stole his power as well, and just as he got to his feet again, Inagaki Goro appeared in the doorway. 

“There you are” Katori acknowledged him. “It’s time to wake Nakayama-Kun and prepare him for his next mission.”

With that, he once kicked Yuma’s leg, and my eyes flew to his face, seeing how he jerked, lids flying open and his gaze focusing on me.

“Fuma” he breathed, and I could see the panic in his eyes before he reached out for my wrist, clinging to it. “Fuma, please help me! I don’t want to do this! Please-”

“Enough” Katori groaned, and then, all of a sudden, Yuma’s gaze became empty, and he stopped speaking. He let go of my wrist and got to his feet in almost robotic movements, following Inagaki outside. Katori smiled, waving into the round once.

“See you tomorrow!” he called, before leaving the room with Nakai, and pulling the door closed behind him. We could hear the lock being turned again with loud, disturbing noises. 

Then, everything was silent for a few, excruciatingly long moments that allowed a complete panic to spread through my mind, making me feel almost numb.

“So, you heard what’s going on” Kawai said quietly. “Basically, we’re screwed.”

“We gotta do something” I whispered. “We have to get out of here, we have to-”

“There is no way out” MatsuJun sighed. “We tried everything, without any success. Or well, there is no way out within our range of powers, at least.”

“What do you mean?” I demanded.

“Well, you are here now” Goseki shrugged, leaning back against the wall behind him as if trying to find a comfortable position. “And your power… Let’s say we have the feeling it might work slightly different from all of ours.”

“Our powers are things we can control” Masuda said slowly, adding, with a short glance towards Tegoshi: “Or something that is around constantly, but that we draw use of in our own way. Your power is different, though. The one who is initiating it is Kento-Kun.”

“But Kento is not here” I reminded them.

“Exactly” Kawai nodded. “When Kento-Kun is in danger, he will call out to you, and you will appear at his side. Kusanagi’s shields block our powers, but this is something that comes from Kento-Kun, so it may be your ticket out of here.”

“So, you mean… you want Kento to be attacked?!” I asked in shock. 

“What do you think Katori is doing this for?!” Ninomiya murmured. “He is trying to isolate the other Keepers, to make them vulnerable. His ultimate goal is to either eliminate them, or make them work for him. So sooner or later, it will happen.”

“And when it happens, you can get out of here” Goseki explained. “You can protect Kento-Kun, and tell everyone what is really going on, and who is behind all of this. And maybe, you can track down Yuma-Kun’s protectors, and finally make them do their job. If they had been around, maybe none of this mess would have even happened!”

“If it hadn’t been Yuma-Kun, it would have been someone else” Tottsu shrugged, still tenderly petting Reia’s head, who had slumped against him. “This is not his fault.”

“So… what are we going to do now?” I asked softly. “Just…?”

“Wait” Kawai agreed with a deep sigh. “And hope that he will finally get it over with and attack Kento-Kun.” I glared at him, unable to put into words how much I hated that plan, and Kawai smiled at me in apology. It did not make me feel better. 

***

Within the next night, both time travelers, Sakurai and Sou, appeared in our midst. Next, it was Aiba and Shige. Then Jinguji and Marius, and lastly, Tsukada.

Inagaki brought Yuma back to our room every night, and he collapsed as soon as Inagaki was out of reach, unconscious and not reacting when one of us tried to wake him. Reia explained that he could feel an almost inhuman exhaustion from him, and it made us understand what kind of strain the mind control had to be on him, and that maybe, he was fruitlessly trying to fight it each and every day.

Sometimes, he would wake up in the morning and apologize under tears, asking us to forgive him and to please stop him. The morning Tsukada joined us, he even asked us to hurt him, to make sure that he could not hurt anyone else. I was pretty sure that he was sensing what they would make him do next, and it made me feel sick to the bones. 

When they picked him up, all of us knew exactly what it meant, of course. 

“Do you have any last messages to your Keepers?” Katori asked with a smile, looking into the round. “I can ask Goro-Chan to make Nakayama-Kun deliver them.”

He only received glares from every direction, and sighed indignantly.

“It’s your last chance” he stressed. “There will be no ‘later’. Kikuchi-Kun? You don’t want to tell your boyfriend that you love him one last time?”

“Fuck off” I hissed, and Katori grinned.

“Well, have it your way” he shrugged, his hand on puppet-Yuma’s shoulder as he led him outside. “I hope you won’t regret it!”

I pressed my face into my knees when he closed the door, muffling a scream. 

“Today is the day” Shige murmured, kindly ignoring me. “Let’s hope our Keepers are smart enough to stick together, or if not, that Kento-Kun will be the one to be attacked first. If not…”

Fuma saw Jinguji crawling in on himself even more, hiding his face, and Tegoshi entwined his fingers with Masuda’s. I startled when Marius cuddled into my side, but relaxed quickly and ran gentle fingers through the younger boy’s hair. 

“None of them will be hurt, right?” Marius whispered. “Kento-Kun, Genki-Kun… None of them. Right?”

I wanted to tell him that of course not, I would not let anyone hurt Kento, but I couldn’t force the words past the lump in my throat.

No one spoke for a long time, and I closed my eyes, trying to focus on Marius’ warmth and the rhythm of his breathing. When even that seemed to be fading, I blinked my eyes open just in time to see the dark room and the other protectors around me disappear.

Instead, I found myself in what seemed like a hotel suite, but I had exactly one second to look around before I needed to duck to not be hit by a ball of green light. It bounced into the table behind me, breaking a vase and shooting its shards all over the place, and I quickly jumped behind a couch to shield myself.

“Yuma! Stop!” I heard Kento call, and quickly glanced past the furniture to take in the situation. 

First, I spotted Genki, unmoving on the floor next to the table, and Hasshi a few feet beside him, cowering behind an armchair and shooting what looked like bright red lightnings over it occasionally. 

Koyama and Ohno were nowhere to be found, but Kento was standing across the room, facing Yuma head on, desperately trying to fight off the other’s attacks. 

“Yuma!” Kento called, struggling against another one of those greenish light balls that I had just dodged not long ago, the force of it throwing him to the ground. “Please come back to yourself! I know this is not you! Please!”

I could see Yuma striking again, though, and before I knew it, I was running. I could hear Hasshi calling my name, and it made Kento freeze in shock, but I reached him just in time before Yuma’s next curse could hit him, slinging my arms around his waist and letting the shield appear to fight it off.

Kento turned his head to stare at me like he was seeing a ghost, but then, the door flung open and finally, Ohno and Koyama appeared. 

Ohno’s first reaction was to send a chair flying towards Yuma, but before it could hit him, he had already vanished. Nakai had probably given him Amu’s power of teleportation, allowing him to flee in times of need. 

Everyone was silent for a moment, staring towards where Yuma had just disappeared, but then, Kento’s arms wrapped around my shoulders, and I was pulled against him in an embrace so tight that I found it hard to breathe.

“ _Where were you?!_ ” Kento demanded in a shaky voice. “I was out of my mind when I woke up and you were gone! What happened?! How-”

“What about the others?!” Koyama asked, falling to his knees next to us, grabbing my arm and shaking me. “Are they alive?! Did Nakayama-Kun-”

“They are fine” I said quickly, sifting my fingers through Kento’s hair in a reassuring gesture before meeting Koyama’s gaze. “They are being held captive, but none of them is hurt. And it’s not Yuma’s fault, his mind is being controlled. They are forcing him to do this.”

“Who is?” Ohno demanded, kneeling down right next to Koyama. 

“SMAP” I returned, feeling Kento tense in my arms. “They are acting under Katori’s command.”

“But Katori is dead” Koyama murmured.

“He is not” I ensured him. “I saw him. The person that died a year ago, that was a Doppelgänger that Kimura created. Kusanagi is keeping everyone imprisoned with his magic, Inagaki is controlling Yuma and making him do all these things, and Nakai is stealing all the other protector’s powers and using them for their purposes. They wanted to isolate you, to be able to attack you.”

“We figured that was the reason” Koyama nodded, looking at Ohno helplessly. “But what are we going to do now?”

“Track down the others and save them, of course!” Hasshi called, and I turned to look at him, finding him treating Genki’s wound with what seemed to be the tablecloth. “Fuma-Kun can bring us to them now, right?!”

“I can’t” I said, making a face. “I have no idea where they are keeping them. Our only chance for finding them is tracing back Yuma’s steps.”

“He just disappeared” Ohno reminded him. 

“He will come back. He has a mission” I said, no doubt in my mind that it was true, and suddenly remembering Kawai’s words. “In the meantime, we need to find his protectors. There has got to be someone. There are no Keepers without a single protector, Katori is the best proof for that!”

“The protectors usually collect around their Keeper” Ohno murmured. “But Nakayama-Kun is a solo artist. He has no band mates like we do.”

“He used to have them” Kento said quietly, finally pulling away from my embrace and wiping his cheeks. “Yamada-Kun and Chinen-Kun. Fuma and me, and Hokuto and Yugo.”

“He is working with Yara-Kun a lot, isn’t he?” Hasshi added. “And Tsubasa-Kun.”

“Let’s call everyone” Ohno murmured, quickly reaching into his jacket and pulling out his phone. “All of them. We need to question everyone.”

I saw Hasshi pull out his phone, too, but then, Kento’s hands were cupping my cheeks, and I was pulled into a bruising kiss. It felt raw and desperate, full of all the emotions Kento had carried with him since I disappeared, and when he pulled away again, both of us were panting. 

He leant his forehead against mine, staring at me with dark eyes. 

“Don’t you ever dare leaving my side again” Kento whispered. “I swear, Fuma-”

“I’m sorry” I breathed, kissing his lips again, much softer this time. 

“All of Hey! Say! JUMP are on their way” Ohno announced, forcing us to finally separate.

“So is Yara-Kun” Hasshi added. “He said he would bring Tsubasa-Kun.”

“Okay. I will call Hokuto and Yugo” Kento nodded, pulling out his own phone, but I was distracted by Genki stirring and opening his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Hasshi asked quietly, brushing his hair out of his face to get a better look at him.

“What happened?” Genki whispered, and with a deep breath, Hasshi started to explain.

***

Everyone who entered the messed up hotel room in the next half hour looked at us as if they were suspecting that we had engaged in a fist fight (especially after spotting Genki in a corner, holding an ice-pack to his forehead), but we dodged all of their questions until even the last ones had gathered, helplessly standing in the room between shards of glass and broken furniture. 

“This is going to sound crazy” I spoke up finally, catching the eyes of Hokuto and Yugo, because I felt much more comfortable talking to them than to all the Senpai. “But we need to ask you if any of you possess any kind of magical powers. Anything is fine, just please, let us know! It’s important!”

There was an eerie silence in the room as all of them stared at me blankly. 

“Magic _what_?!” Arioka Daiki demanded, blinking. 

“Fuma-Kun, are you alright?!” Yaotome Hikaru frowned, obviously wondering if I had not completely lost it. 

“I am serious!” I stressed, looking into the round for any traces of realization on anyone’s face, only noticing the flying object in the room when everyone gasped.

I looked at Kento, finding his hand stretched out, swiftly letting a pillow sway in the middle of the room, visible for everyone.

“We have no time for explanations now” Kento said quietly. “The lives of all of our band mates and Yuma are on the line. So please, if you’ve ever noticed anything strange about yourselves, tell us. Anything can be of importance.”

There were another few moments of silence before finally, Yara Tomoyuki raised his hand. 

“I can teleport” he said almost calmly, watching Kento’s movements with sharp eyes. “Have known it for a while now, but I never told anyone.”

“I can… make people do what I want them to” Chinen Yuri admitted, seeming strangely guilty, and receiving a wide-eyed look from Takaki Yuya right next to him. 

“That’s good” I nodded, looking around. “Anyone else? Please!”

There was another moment of tensed silence before finally, Okamoto Keito whispered: “... Ryosuke?”

Everyone turned to Yamada Ryosuke, who sighed in defeat and raised his hand, pointing at the mirror across the room. 

Koyama yelped and jumped away from it when it exploded seemingly out of nowhere, hiding behind Hasshi. 

“I don’t mean to” Yamada said quickly, looking unhappy. “Things just break when I am nearby.”

“I can mend the things he breaks” Keito said quietly, and with a wave of his hand, the mirror turned back to its original shape. 

“I’m… not freaked out” Inoo noted sarcastically, and Hikaru nodded enthusiastically, but I ignored them, instead just speaking to Yamada, Keito, Chinen and Yara. 

“We really need your help! Please listen to what we have to say!”

With the assistance of Kento, I launched into a retell of everything that had happened to us in the last year, from Sou appearing from the future to warn us of Kento’s attacker, to Tegoshi explaining everything about Keepers and Protectors to us, to Katori threatening Genki and him possessing Yuma and kidnapping everyone. 

The longer I talked, the paler the other’s became, but I was happy to find that none of them questioned our words, simply taking things the way we told them. 

“So… that means Yuma is doing these kind of things because we weren’t around to protect him…?” Yamada asked slowly, seeming horrified, but I quickly shook my head.

“This is not the point now” I stressed. “What we need to do is find Yuma and free him from this mind control Inagaki has put him under. Then, we can go find the others, and fight SMAP.”

“I need to never tell this to my father” Keito whispered, making a face. 

“And all of you need to leave” Kento added, looking to Hokuto and Yugo and everyone else who had more or less nothing to do with this. “If Yuma returns, you have to be far, far away from here. You can’t defend yourselves.”

They seemed hesitant, looking at each other unsurely, but when Koyama and Ohno insisted, they slowly got to their feet and cleared the room. 

“Watch out for yourselves” Yabu Kota murmured to his band mates before he left, almost pulling Takaki Yuya with him, who seemed hesitant to leave. 

Left were only the five Keepers, Yuma’s new-found Protectors and me when the door fell closed, and none of them seemed especially confident about what we were going to do now. 

“So, now we… wait for Yuma to turn up here, or…?” Keito asked in obvious confusion. 

“What are we even going to do when he does?” Chinen checked. 

“Honestly? I have no idea” I sighed, only finding a little comfort when Kento entwined our fingers. 

“You are his Protectors, though” Kento pointed out weakly. “You have to be able to get through to him somehow.”

“But _how_?!” Yamada asked.

“We have to be creative” Yara shrugged, making the others look at him. “But Yuma is a good kid. He won’t hurt us, I am sure of that.”

“Right. You have to trust him” Kento nodded, to which Genki raised his eyebrows until they disappeared behind his bangs, and Hasshi snorted quietly. 

***

The minutes of waiting seemed endless. Everyone was huddled together in groups: The members of JUMP were occupying the bed, whispering among themselves; Yara was sitting with Ohno and Koyama, and Hasshi was taking care of Genki’s injuries. 

Kento and I were sitting on the floor, half-hidden behind an armchair, with Kento’s face pressed to my neck, and his arms wrapped around me tightly. 

“How are Mari, Sou and Shori?” he whispered, his breath fanning against my skin. “Are they fine? Is anyone hurt?”

“No one is hurt” I ensured him, letting my fingers draw calming circles onto his shoulder. “Don’t worry about them.”

“How can I not? It’s my fault all of this happened. _Again_.”

“It’s not!” I said indignantly, gently cupping his nape and pulling him back enough to make him look at me. “We all love you and we want to protect you.”

“I want to protect you, too” Kento murmured regretfully. “But apparently, I am not strong enough.”

“You are” I smiled softly, swiftly leaning in to kiss his nose. “And you will. I trust you.”

Kento sighed, letting himself fall back into my arms and indulging into our moment of fake peace for just a little longer. 

***

As predicted, it did not take too long until Yuma reappeared, as sudden as ever, in the middle of the room. 

After we had jumped up from behind our armchair, I had pulled Kento into me on an instinct, and I was thankful for that as Yuma’s first attack bounced off at my shield, and I saw everyone else ducking behind the remaining furniture. 

Everyone but Yara, who had vanished as suddenly as Yuma has appeared, before he was standing behind Yuma, grabbing his wrists and holding on even as the younger struggled.

There were a few confusing moments, with them dis- and re-appearing in a matter of seconds, before Yuma tore himself free, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Stop it already, Yuma” Yara said calmly, and I could see the emotions in Yuma’s eyes, fractured, broken behind those cristal walls of a control that wasn’t his own. 

I knew then and there, that we had a chance to actually make this happen.

“Yuma” Yamada called, and it made their Keeper turn to him, staring at the three JUMP members as if in trance. “It’s okay now. We are here. You are not alone anymore.”

Yuma was pale, and his breathing was heavy as he stared back and forth between them, and then, he closed his eyes. 

A single tear ran down in cheek, and his hands were shaking.

“Yuma” Kento murmured, fisting my shirt firmly as he spoke. “You don’t have to do this on your own. We can fight them together. Just please, come back to yourself.”

Yuma took a shaky breath, and then, suddenly, he slumped to the ground, like a marionette whose strings had been cut. 

“Yuma!” 

Yara, Yamada, Keito and Chinen were at his side immediately, shielding Yuma from my sight, but I could still catch the words he breathed out.

“You need to leave” he whispered. “They are on their way, and they are furious. They are going to kill you.”

Kento and I barely managed to look at each other before suddenly, 5 more people appeared in the room, and everything was a chaos: Curses and shades of light flew through the room, bouncing off on the shield around Kento and me. I could not see the others, but I could hear their yells and screams, and then, I took note of Yuma, desperately trying to fight off Inagaki.

I kept my grasp firm on Kento’s wrist as I pulled him across the room, towards them, and Kento hit Inagaki with a blue ball of light, sending him flying across the room.

I grabbed Yuma’s arm, making him look at me.

“You can still teleport, right?!” I demanded, and Yuma nodded helplessly. “Bring us to the others! Quick!”

I took note of Kento sending another curse into the direction of Nakai, keeping him away from Genki, and then, everything around us started spinning, and the room around us disappeared. 

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes again was the iron door I had been forced to stare at for the past few days of my imprisoning, only from the other side.

“I don’t know how to open it” Yuma murmured from beside me, so I shot a look at Kento, who nodded once before raising his hand, holding it over the lock. For a few moments, nothing happened, and then, I could hear the lock rattle. I waited for the disturbingly loud sound that would announce the unlocking, but Kento was panting under the strain of the magic and still, nothing seemed to be moving.

“Yuma, please help me” he gasped.

“I don’t know how” Yuma murmured helplessly.

“Just try!” I urged, and a little hesitantly, Yuma directed his own hand to the lock as well. 

With their combined powers, the lock finally turned, and the door pushed open, letting light fall into the dark room. 

“ _Finally”_ I heard Kawai murmur, but then, Kento and me were almost knocked over by Marius, who tackled us into a bone-crushing embrace.

“Mari” Kento breathed, hugging him tightly, but I disentangled myself and quickly stepped forward, waving the rest of them outside. 

“Quickly, we need to return!” I called, and then, everyone was moving. I quickly spotted Shori, grabbing him by the elbow, and Sou followed after him to my side. 

Some of them moved with Amu, who could use his powers again as soon as he had stepped out of the room, but me, Kento and our band mates returned with Yuma, Marius clinging to my elbow and me having my free arm slung around Kento’s waist tightly. 

We found the scene in the hotel room as confusing as we had left it, but only for a moment, because then, everything froze all of a sudden. 

I only needed to look out for a short while before I could spot Jinguji with his hands raised, his eyes searching the room, probably for Genki. 

I saw Katori, not far from Koyama and Ohno, all of them frozen in their tracks; Nakai, who was ducking away from Yamada, who had obviously just let the television between them explode; Inagaki, who was across from Chinen, both of them staring at each other intensely; and Kimura, backed up by Yara. All of them had turned unmoving at Jinguji stopping the time, but then, my eyes fell onto Kusanagi, who looked at the group of us with an unamused expression. 

“Damn, I told Katori-Kun that we should have just killed you all right from the start” he groaned, and with a wave of his hand, all of SMAP started moving again. 

The fight continued, and it was all I could do at first to hold onto my band mates to keep them together and underneath our shield, but soon, I noted that all Protectors seemed to have gathered around their Keepers, forming a strong unit. 

I could see A.B.C-Z on Hasshi’s side, with Tsukada sending thunder and lightning after Kimura in the middle of the hotel suite; Massu the dog, who attacked Nakai as soon as he only turned towards NEWS; Yamada, who kept wrecking everything in close proximity to their enemies…

I barely realized what was happening until suddenly, SMAP was completely closed in. All the Keepers reached out to connect hands. I stared at Kento in confusion as he held onto the wrists of Hasshi and Genki, and then, the ground seemed to rock. 

I had to hold onto Kento tightly to not be thrown to the ground. Everything became blindingly bright, making me close my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, it was just in time to see Katori call out, but then, their skin seemed to glow, and they burst into what looked like a million tiny stars. 

It was Ohno who had his hands stretched out, collecting them, and with a nod towards Sakurai, both of them were gone, together with what had been left of SMAP.

“What-” I murmured, confused, but then, Koyama was calling out to everyone. 

“Yuma-Kun, Amu-Kun, quickly, bring us all back to that room you have been brought to! We need to hurry!”

I looked at Kento questioningly, but he seemed as confused to me, and when Marius and Sou pulled us towards Yuma, we just followed along. 

In a matter of seconds, we were back in front of the iron door, everyone storming inside, and when Koyama closed the door behind us, Jinguji called: “What is going on?! What are we doing?!”

“When all of us Keepers united our powers, we were able to rid SMAP of all the influences from the Dark Forces, and reduce them to the pure powers they have been given” Koyama explained quietly.

“Yeah, we researched that technique long ago” Tegoshi agreed. “But where did Ohno-Kun and Sakurai-Kun take them?”

“Sakurai-Kun brought them back in time” Koyama sighed, falling down to the floor next to Hasshi. “He and Ohno-Kun are about to reunite them with their past selves, to prevent this whole thing from ever happening.”

“So,” Aiba said quietly. “We came here… why?”

“Because this room was jinxed by Kusanagi so it would resist all magic influences” Koyama explained. “We are not sure if it works, but… Under normal circumstances, we would all forget what happened as soon as the future changes. But when we are in here, maybe we will remember.”

I caught Kento’s eyes, seeing the realization of what it would mean if we forgot what had happened since Katori had set his mind on attacking him dawn onto him. He entwined our fingers, and I gently returned the pressure. 

“When did you plan all of this?!” Hasshi demanded, looking at Koyama. “We were around all the time, I mean-”

“Ohno-Kun and I thought it up while you guys were busy finding Yuma’s protectors” he smiled sheepishly. “Ohno-Kun clued in Sakurai-Kun just minutes ago.”

“And now?” Genki asked hesitantly, looking up at Koyama. “What are we going to do now that we are in here? Just wait for them to return?”

“Basically” Koyama nodded, raising his eyebrows at Jinguji when he groaned from between Genki and Amu.

“I really have enough of all that waiting for a lifetime” he complained, and Reia leaned over Genki’s back to hit him in the head. 

It was that moment, that the door opened again, revealing Ohno and Sakurai, with satisfied smiles on their faces.

“Did it work?” Aiba enquired, and both of them just grinned.

***

No trace was left of the incident leading to Katori Shingo’s supposed death in the media - instead, SMAP had released an album a few weeks ago, and was busy with idol activities, the way it should be. 

Yuma and his new group of protectors were cornered by both A.B.C-Z and NEWS, involving them into a long talk about Keepers and Protectors and how to not run into the arms of any more Dark Forces. I saw Reia simultaneously fuzzing over Genki’s bruises and kicking Jinguji to keep him away just as Kento squeezed my hand, making me look at him. 

“Can we leave?” he whispered, his gaze strangely intense, and before I could answer, Shori murmured: “Yes, _please leave_ , I don’t want any part of those emotions.”

I only fully understood what emotions Shori was talking about when Amu had dropped us off in Kento’s room, and I was tackled onto his bed as soon as we were left alone.

I blinked up at Kento owlishly, his hair falling into his face and his eyes dark and scorching as he straddled my hips, hovering over me. 

“I told you to never leave my side” Kento hissed, and he was so close that I could feel his breath on my lips, making me gulp. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, Fuma!”

“Maybe you now finally understand how I felt when Genki was trying to kill you” I shot back, but my chest hurt a little at the emotions running over Kento’s face, so I reached out to cup his cheeks in both of my palms. “I am sorry.”

“Never do that to me again” Kento breathed. 

“That goes both ways” I reminded him, brushing a thumb over his cheekbone. 

Instead of answering, Kento leaned in to kiss my lips, and after everything that had happened, the contact felt almost healing, like our love was washing through my body and taking care of all the wounds we had acquired in all those fights. 

Kento’s fingers were in my hair, on my skin, everywhere, and I could do barely more than hold onto him tightly and let him have his way with me. I could feel the intensity in each and every one of Kento’s touches, the urgency, and even when usually, Kento was a lover of long foreplays and thorough explorations, today was not one of those nights, and I was kind of thankful for that. All I wanted was to feel him and be connected with him in every way possible, and Kento seemed to agree on that. 

Kento entwined our fingers on both sides of my head, pressing my hands into the mattress as he pushed into me, making me arch my back at the hot pleasure running through me. Maybe it was because we were rushing it and I was not as carefully prepared as usual, or maybe it was just the weight of Kento’s emotions, but everything felt overwhelming, from the way I could feel every inch of Kento filling me, to the quick, harsh rhythm he fell into without giving me time to catch my breath, to the bruising kiss that stole my helpless moans. 

“You are mine” Kento breathed against my lips, rolling his hips purposefully, making me groan as he hit me just right, my throat feeling raw at the lack of air. “And if anyone ever tries to take you away from me again, I don’t know what I will do to them. This was the first time I ever wanted to hurt people.”

I wanted to tell him that I understood all too well, but I couldn’t find my voice, being unable to produce anything but choked moans that slipped with every thrust of Kento’s hips. I wanted to move, wanted to touch Kento, but he was keeping me immobile, hands, hips and lips claiming me as his, and I had no choice but giving myself up to him even if I had wanted to. 

“Fuma” he mumbled as his rhythm began to falter, telling me that he was close. “Fuma, I love you!”

“I love you” I returned, my breath hitching as he pounded into me roughly in response. “Kento-”

My hands trembled against his hold, and then, I tumbled over the edge, coming undone as Kento continued to push into me a few more times before exhaling sharply into my mouth and following after me. I could feel him emptying himself inside of me, and it made me shudder with the aftershocks, panting against his lips. 

Kento let go of my hands and wrapped me up in a tight embrace, resting against my chest to catch his breath, and it was all I could do to loosely hold onto his shoulders and take deep breaths. 

“Mine” Kento whispered again, barely audibly, and I had to smile, kissing the top of his head in silent agreement. 

***

“Hi” I called into the round as I entered the dressing room, swiftly dodging what looked like Marius’ straightening iron before closing the door. “I told you to collect the things Kento sends flying, seriously!”

Our band mates ignored me pointedly, instead vividly discussing the dream Marius had had about Jinguji and Reia, and I sighed as I caught a shoe that was swaying into my direction, making my way over to where Kento was slumped together on his chair. 

I smiled as I leaned down to kiss his forehead, lingering until he blinked his eyes open, looking at me sleepily.

“Hey” he murmured, smiling tiredly, and I grinned as I caught his lips for a proper kiss. 

The pillow that Shori threw at us from the couch bounced off at my shield, and I kept the kiss up just a little longer, if only to spite him. 


End file.
